Wicklow Whiskey and Woods
Start your tour an hour south of Dublin, in lush, green County Wicklow. (About an hour drive, or take the DART train from Dublin and book a local tour.) This is where the modern craft distilling movement started, in 2011 at Glendalough Distillery. Wander stunning trails around the “valley of two lakes” the distillery is named for, in Wicklow Mountains National Park. The star attractions here are the 6th-century ruins of a Monastic City founded by St. Kevin, the character on Glendalough’s label: ruins include an ancient cemetery, Rapunzel-worthy tower, sturdy stone churches and carved crosses. Get a taste of what goes into Glendalough’s Wild Botanical Gin by joining a Wicklow Wild Foods foraging tour exploring wild edibles and medicinal plants with Geraldine Kavanagh, who sustainably hand-harvests the gin’s fresh botanicals (her signature is on every bottle). At local forest preserves like Ballinacor Estate, Glendalough sustainably source and replants Irish oak, used for custom casks that give bright cinnamon and allspice notes to Glendalough Pot Still Irish Oak Finish whiskey. While the distillery doesn’t offer tours, it’s fingerprints are all Wicklow, with its spirits and cocktails at pubs and eateries like the Wicklow Heather and Byrne & Woods.
Glendalough Monastic site, Co Wicklow. Photo courtesy of Tourism Ireland
Taking Liberties
The so-called Golden Triangle of historic Irish distilling is now the modern Liberties neighbourhood of Dublin—as it was outside the city’s walls, industries like distilling could take more “liberties” here. Explore on foot, or book a distillery tour with an expert guide that will whisk(ey) you around. Don’t neglect a stop at the National College of Art and Design, the former site of the John Power & Sons distillery in this area, where you can still glimpse the massive copper stills peeking out of their brick housings. A handful of contemporary craft distilleries are in walking distance.
Pearse Lyons Whiskey Distillery, The Liberites, Dublin City. Photo courtesy of Tourism Ireland.
Power and Pints
It’s practically mandatory to visit the Guinness Storehouse, but be sure to cross the street from St. James’s Gate for one of the best craft distillery tours you’ll ever experience. Opened in 2019 in the former Guinness power station, Roe & Co. is the reinvention of a 19th-century distillery, named for legendry distiller George Roe, that once stood nearby. Fronted by a cool gift shop full of unique merch drops and cocktail supplies, this glassed-in distillery has a catwalk crossing for peering from above at its gleaming set of triple stills, and lab-like rooms where you can shake up a custom whiskey cocktail during a Flavours Experience or try your hand at blending in a Beyond the Blend workshop. Wind up in the Powerhouse bar for a cocktail or a tasting flight of these light, fruity, smooth and approachable triple-distilled whiskies.
Roe & Co Distillery Tour, Dublin. Photo Courtesy of Tourism Ireland.
Spiritual Sips
Just down James’s Street, worship at the imposing, stone and stained-glass St. James’ Church. The spiritual experiences these days are at the Pearse Lyons Distillery, where you can taste a flight of whiskey after a tour exploring the building’s restoration and conversion a decade ago. Register for Gin School and concoct your own bottle in a miniature still or join a cocktail class or whiskey-blending workshop. Pearse Lyons was a pioneer of the Irish whiskey industry and well known stateside, where he founded Lexington Brewing & Distilling Co. in Kentucky. The bottle shop and tasting bars here feature not only the Pearse single malt, pot still and blended whiskey bottlings but Town Branch bourbon and rye, Ha’Penny gin and whiskey and Míl gin and vodka.
Teeling Whiskey Distillery, The Liberties, Dublin City. Photo courtesy of Tourism Ireland.
Rocking and Rising
Teeling has been a big name in Irish whiskey since the 1780s, when the first distillery by that name operated. In 2015, descendants opened Teeling Whiskey, the first new Dublin urban distillery in more than a century, right near the original location. A phoenix logo on the building façade and its bottles symbolizes the revival of Irish distilling. Soak up the steampunk, industrial-chic vibes as your tour the distillery’s production floor, sip a Dublin Coffee in the Bang Bang Bar or do a tasting of Teeling single grain and blended Irish whiskies, plus Irish single malt that has won several global awards. Named Ireland’s Sustainable Distillery of the Year in 2022, Teeling has a garnish garden, beehives and solar panels on its rooftop, alongside the Teeling Terrace, a perfect spot for sunny day cocktails.
Jameson Distillery, Bow Street, Co. Dublin, Photo courtesy of Nuria Puentes
Moonshine and More
From the Liberties, just cross the River Liffey to the north side for a whiskey-tasting, cocktail-making or historical tour of the Jameson Bow St. location, where Irish whiskey’s most famous export was made for 200 years. (It’s now distilled at the Midleton Distillery in County Cork.) While you’re over there, explore poitín, the Irish equivalent of moonshine, at Bar 1661, Ireland’s Bar of the Year 2025 (best to reserve in advance). Taste small-batch bottlings of the potent, typically unaged grain spirit from the extensive back bar, or a mini-cocktail and snack tasting experience.
